CBS Radio News Adopts Bushspeak To Describe Surveillance Program

[JABBS]

CBS Radio News, the network conservatives love to hate, has adopted a Bush Administration term.

According to the CBS Radio News lead-in, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today was peppered with questions about the administration's "terrorist surveillance program."

Hmmm. Where did I hear that term before?

Oh yeah, when the Bush Administration started using it.

In this game of semantics, realize that the administration doesn't want its sidestepping of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to be called a "domestic surveillance program," since it is only eavesdropping on calls involving an international player.

Meanwhile, liberals don't like the term "terrorist surveillance program," because it's not so much a policy as it is a slogan. How can you be against surveillance of terrorists? (Answer: Liberals aren't, they just want the administration to follow FISA, which says that the National Security Agency must obtain a warrant before conducting surveillance.)

JABBS moved from "domestic surveillance" to "warrantless surveillance" last month, in part because the debate should be about policy, not terminology.

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But in spite of its adoption of Bushspeak, CBS Radio News remains in a no-win situation.

Some conservatives will no doubt say, "See, even CBS Radio News understands what's at stake" or some other acceptance of marketing campaign as administration policy. Others will forget the network's use of Bush terminology the next time it says something perceived as anti-Bush.

It's a case of once being accused of "liberal media bias," always being accused of "liberal media bias."

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This item first appeared at JABBS.

[JABBS]

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